Correspondence
Email sent to two contact addressses for Zhejiang Ocean Family.
The email said: "We’re contacting you regarding our research on the practice of ‘flagging in’, whereby fishing vessels owned by companies in one country are flagged to another country in order to access that second country’s waters. Records indicate that Zhejiang Ocean Family owns a dozen fishing vessels which are flagged to Argentina and Kiribati.
We also understand that an Argentinian crew member on board the Xin Shi Ji 89, an Argentine-flagged vessel owned by Zhejiang Ocean Family, died on the vessel after contracting Covid-19 while at sea in 2021, without being taken to shore for medical treatment.
Separately, a report published by the non-governmental organization Environmental Justice Foundation this year said that workers on a dozen ships owned by Zhejiang Ocean Family and which operated in the Pacific Ocean were physically and verbally abused, sexually assaulted, and forced to work shifts of between 18 hours to two days. These workers also said that they had their identification cards confiscated, and lacked sufficient medication, food or water, according to the EJF report published in 2024. In at least two cases, workers reportedly killed themselves or died after medical neglect.
We have the following questions for Zhejiang Ocean Family:
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While we understand that you may not be aware of the above problems, we wanted to ask if Zhejiang Ocean Family has any comment to make in response to the information in this email?
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We are not indicating explicitly or implicitly that flagging-in is illegal, we are just taking a look at the issue of flagging-in globally. Can Zhejiang Ocean Family confirm that it is the owner of fishing vessels which are flagged to Argentina and to Kiribati?
Please let us know your responses to these two questions by close of business on July 10, 2024, noting that all interactions remain on record."
Zhejiang Ocean Family replied: "Thank you for your letter. We would like to answer the questions you mentioned in your email as follows:
- Information on "flagging-in" fishing vessels operating in Argentina and Kiribati.
Flagging-in is defined as the act of a fishing vessel whose assets belong to a State other than the State of access, but which engages in fishing operations under the flag of the State of access, with no substantial connection to the State of access. Our Argentine flag and Kiribati flag fishing vessels are registered locally, of which: the owner of the Argentine flag fishing vessels is Ocean Family wholly-owned company registered and established in Argentina, and the owner of the Kiribati flag fishing vessels is a joint venture company registered and established in Kiribati by Ocean Family and the government of Kiribati, thus the above relevant companies are local enterprises which engaged in production and business activities in accordance with local laws and regulations, not the so-called "flagging-in".
- Concerning the death of an Argentine crew member of the Xin Shi Ji 89 who contracted Covid-19 in 2021.
In 2021, one Argentinean crew member of Xin Shi Ji 89, which belongs to a local company invested by Ocean Family in Argentina, did die from Covid-19 epidemic. The crew member's position is chief engineer, a senior position crew member, who has the right to decide whether the fishing vessel will produce and return to port according to the relevant local regulations. Prior to working on board, the Argentinean company conducted a series of health checks and visits, and a specialized testing agency conducted a COVID-19 nucleic acid test, which was negative and in line with the conditions for working on board. The crew member, who was working normally while on board, felt unwell on May 4, 2021, local time, and developed feverish symptoms, but his condition deteriorated rapidly and he died at about 12:00 on May 5, 2021, local time. After the incident, the Argentine company reported to the Argentine authorities at the first time and actively cooperated with the relevant departments in the investigation. According to the official identification results, the cause of death of the crew member was acute respiratory failure caused by the COVID-19 infection. Under the local judicial regulations, employment relationship issues are not allowed to be resolved privately, and communication with family members of the crew and agents is conducted through judicial channels. It is understood that the Argentine company handled the entire process in accordance with local laws and regulations.
- Information on allegations in the report from Environmental Justice Foundation
As for the EJF report, we immediately launched internal self-examination after receiving the report and cooperated with the government departments to conduct official investigations. The preliminary results of the two investigations show that Ocean Family does not have the relevant allegations as indicated in the EJF report, and the internal self-examination report will be published on the company's official website after its content has been improved. Our company has established a comprehensive internal crew management system, which requires all crew members to fully respect the customs and habits of foreign crew members from various countries, strictly prohibits any violation of human rights, and strictly handles any violation of the company's internal management system to protect the legitimate rights and interests of individuals.With an open and transparent attitude, we will actively accept the supervision of all sectors of the community, and we hope to work together with everyone to help the development of environmentally friendly marine business through sincere and friendly communication. If you still have questions, please keep in touch, thank you."